Charles Poletti

Charles Poletti (2 July 1903-8 August 2002) was Governor of New York (D) from 3 to 31 December 1942, succeeding Herbert H. Lehman and preceding Thomas E. Dewey; he previously served as Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1 January 1939 to 3 December 1942, succeeding M. William Bray and preceding Joe R. Hanley. He was the first Italian-American state governor in the United States.

Biography
Charles Poletti was born in Barre, Vermont on 2 July 1903 to Italian immigrants, and he graduated from Harvard Law School before becoming an attorney in New York City. He became active in the Democratic Party, served as counsel to the Democratic National Committee, counsel to Governor Herbert H. Lehman, and a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court. Poletti served as Lieutenant Governor from 1939 to 1942, and he lost his bid for re-election in 1942; when Lehman resigned in December in order to take up a government position, Poletti served as acting governor for the remaining few weeks of Lehman's term. During World War II, he served as an assistant to the Secretary of War and as a US Army Civil Affairs officer, rebuilding and restoring democracy in Italy after its liberation. After the war, he returned to his law career, and he died in Marco Island, Flordia in 2002 at the age of 99.